Children lifted on 'Wings of Love'

NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Tamekalost her mother through domestic violence in January, last year.

Her story is particularly painful as her infant son's father, "who is still on the run," allegedly chopped her mother to death after the mother tried to intervene in a quarrel between the couple, who shared the home with her in Discovery Bay, St. Ann.

Tameka is still suffering from the experience. "People think I am strong, but I am really weak inside. I have been trying to be strong for my three-year-old son," she told the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) recently.

Simone Gordon from the parish is 18 years old and she too lost her mother two years ago. At the time she "felt lonely and lost and didn't know what to do."

It is in recognition of the pain and suffering being endured by many young persons such as Tameka and Simone, whose parents have been killed under tragic or violent circumstances, or who have died from terminal illnesses, that the St. Ann Red Cross Society has established the "Wings of Love" programme.

The programme targets children usually up to 18 years old, is aimed at providing them with guidance, counselling, and financial assistance.

Nurse Dorothy Ferguson, St. Ann Red Cross Director, who was instrumental in establishing "Wings of Love", told JIS "the programme started because of the number of children who are being left without parents due to crime and violence and HIV/AIDS".

Tameka, who left school before Grade 10, is unskilled and unemployed. She says her mother's death was "a real blow" to her, as they had enjoyed a "close, loving, sisterly relationship."

Today, Tameka, Simone and about 40 other young people have found new "mothers" and "fathers", under 'Wings of Love'. Most are attending school or plan to return to an institution to complete their secondary education.

Tameka said she appreciated the effort being made by the St. Ann Red Cross to show them "the way forward and to convince us that we can still overcome everything that has happened."

Nurse Ferguson pointed out that several members of the St. Ann Red Cross had been "opening their arms and trying to do something to help the children by giving them love and financial support under the programme."

She said efforts were being made to empower the children with life-coping skills, through counselling, and by providing lunch and school supplies for those in need. Medical practitioners and counsellors attached to the Red Cross Society and the Beth Jacobs Clinic also provide them with free health checks.

Nurse Ferguson said the children in the programme were learning by sharing with others in similar circumstances, and that meetings were held once every three months to see how they are doing. "We spend a lot of time listening to them, and that's very important."

"The 'Wings of Love' is very dear to my heart, because there are many children in the society who are in need of help," said chairman of the St. Ann branch of the Red Cross Society, Keith Brown.

He said he had been personally touched by many of the stories of the children, and members of the Red Cross "have vowed to do whatever is possible to make provisions for them, and we make sure that they attend school regularly."

The mission of the St. Ann Red Cross Society is to care for the less fortunate, without thinking about personal gain, he said.

Name has been changed to protect her identity.

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